Collapsible clothes-horse.



No. 372,235. PATENTBD NOV. 26, 1907. J. HIMMEL. GOLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES HORSE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1906.

JOSEPH HIMMEL, OF JAMAICA PLAIN, MASSACHUSETTS.

COLLAPSIBLE CLOTHES-HORSE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 26, 19o7.

Application filed February 28. 1906. Serial No. 303,423.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JosEPH HIMMEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Jamaica Plain, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Clothes-Horses, of which the following is a specification.

The object of this invention is to provide a cheap, simple, and durable clothes-horse which can be adjusted to different heights, and which can be collapsed so that the same may be folded into a very small space as compared with the space taken up by the same when extended in position to have clothes hung thereon, thus making it possible when the clothes-horse is not in use to pack it away in a closet or to hang it, in its collapsed form, on a hook, and when the same is being shi ped it takes up very small space and thus re uces the cost of express or freight.

My improved clothes-horse is so constructed that it may be set upon its base upon the floor, or the same may be reversed and hung from hooks or projections against the wall.

The invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved clotheshorse, the same being shown in its extended position in full lines and also in dotted lines extended to a less height. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the device collapsed. Fig. 4 is a section, partly in elevation, taken on line 44 of Fig. 1, when the parts are indotted position. Fig. 5 is a side elevation o a portion of my improved collapsible clothesorse, said portion constituting the base, and a ortion of the lazy-tongs constituting the si e, said lazy-tongs being broken away to save space in the drawings, the device being shown in its inverted position and hung from hooks fast to a wall, the wall bein shown in section.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of the drawings.

In the drawings, 6 is the base and 7 and S the sides of my improved clothes-horse. The base 6 consists of two side pieces 9, 9 connected together by rods 10, 10, 11. The upper ed es of the side pieces 9 are provided with notc es 12, 13 and 14. The sides 7 and 8 are duplicates of each other and the following description of the side 8 applies equally well to the construction of the side 7; said sides 7 and 8 each constitute a set of lazy-tongs and consist of a set of links 15 16, 17 and 18 pivoted, respectively, at 19, 20, 21 and 22 tolinks 23, 24, 25 and 26.

The upper ends of the links 17 and 25 are ivotally connected to the lower ends of the links 18 and 26 by rods 27 and 28. The lower ends of the links 25 and 17 are pivotally connected to the upper ends of the links 24 and 16 by the rods 29 and 30. The lower ends of the links 16 and 24 are pivotally connected to the upper ends of the links 15 and 23 by rods 31 and 32, respectively. The rod 11 constitutes a pivot for the lower end of the link 15, while the rod 33 fast to the lower end of the link 23 projects into one of the notches 12, 13, or 14, according to the height to which the sides are extended, said rod 33 being shown in Fig. 1 in the notch 14.

It will be understood that the pivotal rods 19, 20, 21 and 22, 27, 2s, 29, 30, 31, 32 and 11, as well as the rod 33, extend across from one side 7 to the other side 8 and connect the two sides 7 and 8 to each other.

It will be noted that the distance between the centers of the rods 19 and 33 is less than that between the rods 19 and 11, so that the sides 7 and 8 are canted forward, a plane passing through the centers of the rods 19, 20, 21 and 22 standing at an angle to a vertical plane, and thus bringing the center of the rod 22 approximately above the center of the base 6, thus greatly increasing the stability and firmness of the device as to any tendency of the same to tip over backwardly.

It will be seen that by inclining the lazytongs so that a plane passing through the central pivots of the links stands at an angle to the base, a much shorter base may be employed and still have the device perfectly firm when in its extended position than would be the case if the pivots referred to lay in a vertical plane. For instance, by reference to Fig. 1, it will be seen that the base 9 is much shorter than could be employed were the lazy-tongs not inclined as described. Thus in this particular case if the lazy-tongs were so constructed that the central plane passing through the common pivots of the different parts of the links constituting the lazy tongs were to be a vertical one the base 9 would necessarily have to be extended toward the right (Fig. 1) so that the device as a Whole would take up more space and would project further out into the room in which it was situated. a;

Another important advantage in the device, which is secured by tipping the lazytongs at an angle to the base, is the obvious fact that the pivotal rods 27, 29, and 31 are not located above each other. The same is true with relation to the pivotal rods 28, 30, and 32 and the pivots 21, 20, and 19, so that articles of any considerable size can be hung upon the pivot 27, for instance, without striking the pivotal rod 29. The same is true with relation to the rod 29 as compared with the rod 31 and so with the other pivotal rods throughout the structure. This feature in the device of applicants construction renders the same of much greater utility and of very much greater capacity for large work.

At times it is much more convenient to hang the clothes-horse from the wall in its extended position than to stand it upon the floor and when this is done the rod 11 is hung upon hooks 34,- Fig. 5, said hooks being fastened to a wall 35. When'used in this position, to prevent collapse it is necessary that the rod 33 should be locked in the notch 14., and to accomplish this a locking plate 36 is pivotally connected to the base 6 by a screw 37, so that said plate may be rotated about the screw 37 and close the opening of the notch 14. One of these plates is provided upon each side of the base, so that the rod 33 is locked to the base at both ends thereof. When it is desired to collapse the clothes horse, the plate 36 is rotated upon the screw 37 until it allows the rod 33 to pass out of the notch 14, when the clothes-horse may be readily collapsed, as shown in Fig. 3.

The device is operated as follows: Assuming the two sides to be in their extended position, as illustrated in Fig. 1, and that it is desired to reduce the height of the clotheshorse, the rod 33 is lifted out of the notch 14 by tipping the sides 7 and 8 backwardly on the rod 11 as a pivot, and then pushing downwardly on the upper rod 22 so that the rod 33 drops into sides are again swung forwardly upon their pivotal rod 11 as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1. 1f the device is collapsed to the point where the rod 33 will enter the notch 13, then the height of the clothes-horse will be between the height illustrated in Fig. 1 in full lines and that illustrated therein in dotted lines. To collapse the clothes-horse, the rod 33 is lifted from the notch in which it may be located in the sides 9 of the base and by pushing downwardly upon the rod 22 the device is collapsed to the position illustrated in Fig. 3, thus taking up a comparatively small space, in which form it is ready for shipment or for packing away in a closet or in any small space.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire by Letters Patent to secure is:

A clothes-horse comprising in its construction a base, two sides pivoted to said base, and rods connecting said sides together, said sides each constituting a set of lazytongs, said rods forming the pivots of the links of said lazy-tongs, the sides of one lower link of each lower pair of links, respectively, being of unequal length, whereby the connecting rods are in a plane at an angle to a vertical plane when the rack is adjusted for use.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOSEPH HIMMEL.

Witnesses: CHARLES S. Goonnvc, ANNIE J. DAILEY.

the notch 12, when the 

